The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-03-27
ABOUT HAUNTED HOUSES.
THE CASE MENTIONED BY PLINY
AND THAT OF DIR. PHELPS,
Gf Stratford, Conn separated by the
Long Period OF Eighteen
Hundred Years.

confronts us, that they are viewed
with favor, and their visits welcomed
by thousands in all civilized lands.
The presence of apraritions, whether
coming to view in social circles or in
haunted houses" excites only in
terest and curiosity. There are
those who claim to have as many ac-
quaintances and friends in ghost
land, with whom they are in frequent
communication, as they have in ter
restrial life, aud those to whom re-
fer are not confined to the unlearned
classes.
Nothing in history or in human
experience is more remarkable than
the fact that within the brief period
of forty years body of intelligent
men and women, numbering many
millions, have been profoundly i'm
pressed with the belief that direct
INSTRUMENTATION is established
between the living and the dead.
The method of ghostly telephony was
discovered by Isaac Post, of Hydes-
vile, N. Y, in December, 1917; and,
if the phenomena to which the dis
.covery is applicable rest on basis of
truth, the importance of the inven-
tions and the results attained by
Bell, Gray, Edison and others in
terrestrial telephony are dwarted in
comparison.
Posts discovery was made in con-
nection with the widely known house
90, ho ~ NH nh - h.
Fox family at Hydesville. One of
the prominent forms of these dis
turbances were sharp, explosive raps,
like those which come from statical
electrical machines when discharges
occur. The raps came upon the walls,
ceilings and floors of the rooms, and
were produced by undiscoverable
agents. 1t was clearly evident to the
family and the many visitors that
there was intelligence connected with
the raps; but how to bring the listen
ers into communication with the dis
turbers was an uusolved problem. A
happy thought entered the mind of
Post; he suggested that the alpha
bet, as found in an old copy of Web
ster's spelling book, be employed to
draw out intelligent responses from
the rapRers and the method was
Immediately tried, and proved sue
oessful. By placing the index finger
upon the first letter in the column,
and following down to the last, at the
same time requesting the ghost to
rap when the letters were reached
necessary to make any commu-
nication, word responses to ques-
tions were readily obtained,
and thus carnate man and incar-
nate spirit, it is alleged were brought
into direct intelligent communica-
ton. The dawn of modern spiritism
dates from this epoch. Thousands
of houses in all countries during the
historic centuries have been dis
tur bed with mysterious noises, more
or less violent, among which knock
ings have usually been prominent.
No clew to the nature of the phe-
nomena had been secured until the
occurrence of the Hynesville rap
pings and the advent of Post. This
invention of sagacious man was
more successful than that of Bell in
its earliest stages; but, like that of
Bell, it only opened way for i'm
portantresults, or made it clear that a
method of holding communication
was possible. 1t was reserved for
other experimenters to perfect meth
DDS, or devise new ones better
adapted for practical and rapid work.
The use Of the alphabet no longer
continues; slate and letter writing,
together with oral messages, aud
'inspirational speaking on the part
of spirits, have rendered obsolete the
original method Of Post
1t is indeed remarkable that the
phenomena connected with haunted
houses have been uniformly the
same in every country, among all
people, in every age, of which we
have any information. If they are
the result of collision or trick, an
important fact is brought to view,
that the inventive faculty of the mis-
chievious and idle classes of all the
ages have run in the same grooves,
and produced like results. In mod
ern haunted, houses, it is true, we
have the persistent ringing of bells,
even after the communicating wires
are removed, and also we have music
produced by unseen hands, on in
struments Of modern forms, but the
whistling and rapping noises, the
humping sounds of violent winds,
the slamming Of doors, the moving
about of articles of furniture and
other unfxed objects, the appearance
of white, luminous bodies and APP
partitions in human form, have been
the stock phenomena witnessed in
haUnted houses in ancient and mod
ern times. 1t would seem reasona-
BILE that modern science, with its
manifold capabilities for producing
cunning and mysterious tricks,
should have aided in diversifying the |
performances (if they are but tricks), |
but such has not been the case. The |
old, old phenomena continue, with |
but slight variations.
The haunted house at Athens,
which is described by Pliny, afforded
puGuOLhCuu SlllhlhSly Inc WldO W.
Cured at the house of the Rev. DR..
Phelps, of Stratford, Conn, thirty
five years ago, and yet the occur
rences are separated by a period of
1900 years. The house at Athens
was so full of strange noises and an
accountable disturbances that the
inmates fed from it in terror, and it
remained unoccupied, Pliny informs
us, for long time. The owner was
glad to find purchaser in Athena
dorus, philosopher, at a very low
price. But the philosopher and his
family were not allowed to remain in
quiet; strange noises as that of the
changing of chains, we're heard one
night, and, Springing from his bed,
an apparition in human form ap-
Deared, and beckored him to follow.
He did so, and was led to a certain
spot Of ground near to the house,
where the ghost vanished. The pub
op tbons or1aroJ A.